Why are My iTunes Downloads so Slow?

I don't know about the rest of you, but my download speeds are pathetic, which isn't surprising since iTunes uses the wrong host. Instead of picking a New England location, they're trying to download from a server in Iran! No, I don't use Google's third-party DNS, or any others. Just my ISP's server, located 2 miles from my home.

This solve my problem

Interesting article, but not useful for PC owners. There is no such folder as /Library/Preferences/ByHost/ on Windows or Linux machines. Hopefully it will be of some use for Macintosh users.

Found it! Clearing it had no effect, but the Windows version of that folder is %appdata%\Apple Computer\Preferences\ByHost I expect Kaspersky is causing some of this (but not the odd Iranian server), since every download is getting routed through avp.exe. If I disable Kaspersky, than iTunes appears in the Network Activity monitor, at a slightly faster speed. But still much slower than anything else. *shrug*

What worked for me was entering the correct DNS Server settings into my Router and computer's connection preferences. By default most routers will use Google's with is 8.8.8.8 but most ISPs will have their own which are MUCH faster for their clients. Contact your ISPs support number or website to get the IP address of their DNS servers.

This brought my download speeds from 5 hours down to 30 minutes in iTunes.

THe links below only show how to change settings on your local computer but you will still need to update them on your router. I won't even try and list links for the hundreds of kinds of routers out there so you are on your own there. Just Google "Change DNS for [ROUTER MODEL]"

HOW-TO LINK for Mac Users

HOW-TO LINK for Windows Users (XP)

Hope this helps!

Thank you Ace, but I wish people would stop posting this Google garbage. Aside from being irrelevant, it would be a very poor router that defaults to anything except "Obtain DNS automatically" on the DNS field, More likely, your ISP is slacking, and providing 8.8.8.8 instead of hosting their own server. Fortunately, my provider isn't a cheapskate, nor are any I've used in the past 30 years.

While it is true that the wrong DNS can affect download speeds if the download server is routing your requests, it has nothing to do with my situation, nor the original posters. We *are* using our ISP's servers, which are located quite close to our homes. Apple's Chinese server farms (or wherever Akamai really is) are at fault, as they are the ones providing incorrect routing, and completely at random.

I can watch my download cycle between Iran, Australia, Germany, and the United States during a single movie download. Akamai is doing that; not my ISP's DNS server.

When I changed from using DYN DNS (basically the same service as Google DNS) to my local DNS provider it certainly made my iTunes download speeds a lot more consistent in a good way. I never tracked what servers Akamai was serving me from but made the asumption based on speed and what I researched that it was the closest one from where my ISP DNS servers made their lookup from. I have no idea why you would bounced to distribution points so geographically far away from each other (and you I assume) based on what I have read, but obviously it is happening and having a negative impact on your speeds. (I will make a point to track this for my own downloads next time I have a chance). I am not sure what the inference was in regards to Akamai and "Chinese Server farms" but the architecture as I understand it is built around distributing content as geographically close to the consumer as possible. Again, not my area of expertise. Also they are an American company based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts. (http://www.akamai.com/html/about/facts_figures.html). They have content distribution worldwide, but my understanding is that assuming your ISP is running their own DNS then you should be served content from the closest Akamai distribution point. Certainly seems to be a frustrating issue for a number of people, and even more frustrating is that there doesn't seem to be one fix. For me the DNS change from DYN to my local ISP's DNS worked and I am happy, though I would have preferred to stay with DYN. Hopefully we can find something that works for you as well..

My apologies. The Chinese comment was a rant, and a bad guess based on the odd name, and bad experiences with MMORPG's. This morning, iTunes is sending me somewhere close to Vermont, though I can't say exactly where. The IP address location sites cannot find a23-15-8-27.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com, and tracert indicates it's in the United States, but that's all.

Last night before bed, I started the same movie download, and aborted it when I was told it would take 10+ hours and was using a server in Korea. Akamai is completely random. Disabling Kaspersky's firewall helps slightly, but not enough to justify the risk. iTunes is already listed as a trusted application.

And now it's switched to servers in Kansas, 1500 miles away and apparently very slow. I am wondering why iTunes opens 8 connections for a single file. One of them is the download. The other 7 are all IPv4 loopback.

I'd just like to add my voice to the issue so hopefully Apple pays some attention.

For me all large downloads from itunes, such as films, start quickly then about a third of the way through the download suddenly slow to a crawl.

I have tested my download speed and it hasnt changed. Ive restated my computer. Ive tried differnt computers on differnt networks and differnt service providers. Ive used itunes in differnt countires. Its always the same with itunes, starts fast then they throttle your download speed.

It wasnt always like this, but for me this has been consistent for the past year or so.

I don't know if this is related, but since upgrading to Windows 8, iTunes has been crashing frequently during iMatch sessions. The event viewer shows a consistent error, blaming the Bonjour service.

Client application bug: DNSServiceResolve(0BB505D548316AAD._appletv-v2._tcp.local.) active for over two minutes. This places considerable burden on the network. Source: Bonjour Service, Event ID: 100, Level: Error

This error occurs 2 or 3 times before each crash.

Changing the DNS under Network/Advanced/DNS worked for me. I know nothing about computers but followed Finalemile's DNS walk-through found in this thread. The first one didn't do anything but I tried 209.244.0.3 and my download speed for a 1.5GB file went from 32 hrs remaining to 15 minutes. I don't know what DNS is but this advice solved my speed problem. There seem to be a lot of people hating on this DNS advice, I'm not sure why because it worked and to me the point of these blogs/threads is to help people with solutions rather than attack those who help. Maybe they misunderstood the question.

This solved also my issues with the slow DL via iTunes on my Win7PC.

The files to delete are found in the iTunes Library folder and are namely:

"

iTunes Library.itl

iTunes Library.xml

iTunes Library Extras.itl

iTunes Library Genius.itl

Sentinel

"

Before deleting the files DL speed was around 0,2mb now its back to full bandwith of 50mbit

I did it while iTunes was closed. Deleted it and reopened iTunes. iTunes will recreate the files according to the profile.

I read through these comments tonight because I wanted to watch the latest episode of Supernatural and iTunes said it was going to take 19 hours to finish downloading on my 50 Mbs ISP connection. Those bits were walking down from the cloud single-file, like a procession of mourners. OMG! So, I know DNS is only about looking up addresses, but I also know it can find a more local server if the place you're trying to hit has a server farm with nodes spread out over a wide area. Maybe my local ISP DNS server is sending me to Cairo to get my Supernatural episode insted of Van Nuys. So I tried changing my Mac's DNS to 4.2.2.1. Then I paused my iTunes download and resumed. 6 minutes later I've got my Supernatural fully downloaded. There's an expert yelling here who says it shouldn't work. But it does.

BTW, I will try Google's 8.8.8.8 as well. Both are "AnyCast" which someone says is better. Woohoo! It must be.

It ain't Apple's fault your downloads are slow, folks. Stop yelling at them.

I've got 30 mbs download and I live in Santa Monica. I just tested a number of DNS values. I was getting a 19 hour downalod spaeed for a 3.15 GB movie. After changing the DNS to google's 8.8.8.8, my download speed got reduced to 74 minutes. After reading all the posts, particulaly user 462's who lives in van nuys, I tried the 4.2.2.1 and my download speed dropped to 19 minutes.

Folks just keep tring differnt DNS values.

This is not an apple issue. Not sure why people are so quick to blame Apple. They're most helpful in every way, not only in the stores but on the phone.

Acutally have to thank Apple for making thiese discussion boards available.